Mummy's Best Friend
by LuckyDuck29
Summary: This is my take on how Mumm ra met MaMutt. It was never explained in the show. Please see my profile for the link to the ld29info forum for the author's notes.


Mumm-ra watched as the Thundercats went home after his latest failed attempt to destroy them. He was furious! He couldn't figure out how they'd managed to beat him again. He was the greatest evil on Third Earth, but the Thundercats always found a way to thwart him.

This time, he had combined a number of the evils the Thundercats had faced before. He used Slithe's warp gas on Lion-o. He had also used magically animated paintings of some of the worst enemies the Thundercats had beaten, including Rataro, Safari Joe and Spidera. He thought there was no way they could beat all of them together. He'd been wrong again.

"Weak," he said to himself, "so weak. Those wretched Thundercats have bested me again. I must return to my pyramid. I must rest. But once I've rested, I will find a way to rid myself of those accursed Thundercats once and for all!"

"Mumm-ra!" familiar voices called later. "Mumm-ra, wake up and hear us!"

"Yes, Evil Ones, how may the humble Mumm-ra serve you?"

"You have failed yet again, Mumm-ra. The Thundercats are still undefeated."

"Yes, Ancient Ones, but Lion-o showed me my reflection. Anyone with a mirror can defeat me."

"No more excuses, Mumm-ra! You have proven that you are not capable of defeating the Thundercats yourself, and the enemies who have allied themselves with you, the mutants, are useless, as well."

"What does this mean, Evil Ones? What will you do?"

"We will send you another ally, one who will be loyal to you, one without ulterior motives or hidden agendas. The mutants serve themselves more than you. It is fear that keeps them loyal to you. The other enemies the Thundercats have faced and beaten would serve you for the same reason. This new ally will be bonded to you, and you alone. He will serve you faithfully and without question."

"Who is this ally, Ancient Spirits?"

"Reach into the cauldron, Mumm-ra."

Mumm-ra reached into the cauldron and pulled out a squirming bundle. He looked at it curiously and saw that it was a mummified dog.

"You are wise, Ancient Ones. A pet is just what I need, one who will be faithful, loyal and trustworthy."

"You must bond with him, Mumm-ra. You must earn his trust before he will serve you as faithfully as you wish. Even one as evil as you must love someone. You and this dog must come to love each other in order to form the bond you need to work together against the Thundercats. The lack of a loving bond is the reason you and the mutants have not been able to beat the Thundercats before. They don't love each other and they don't love you."

"And I certainly don't love them," Mumm-ra said emphatically.

"Bond with this dog," Mumm-ra, the spirits said. "Make him your friend. Then, perhaps, you will have a chance of defeating the Thundercats."

The spirits disappeared and the dog nuzzled against Mumm-ra.

"Hello, my putrid pet," Mumm-ra said, feeling an emotion that was completely unfamiliar to him. Any one of the Thundercats or their allies would have recognized it as affection. "I will call you Ma-Mutt."

The dog licked Mumm-ra's face with its putrefied tongue, then barked.

"What is it, Ma-Mutt. Are you hungry?"

The dog wagged its bandaged tail.

Mumm-ra spent a month with Ma-Mutt, getting to know his barks and whines, as well as his other habits. The dog really had a personality, Mumm-ra realized one day, and it suited his own personality perfectly. The Ancient Spirits of Evil had made a wise decision when they sent Ma-Mutt to him.

One morning, Ma-Mutt woke Mumm-ra from his rest, barking excitedly.

"What is it, you dreadful dog?" Mumm-ra asked with an odd mixture of fondness and mild annoyance. If it had been one of the mutants, Mumm-ra would have made them pay dearly for their audacity. Only Ma-Mutt and the Ancient Spirits of Evil could disturb Mumm-ra without punishment. "Why do you disturb my beauty sleep?"

Ma-Mutt pointed his nose at the cauldron. Mumm-ra looked and gave an evil laugh.

"Lion-o is having a nightmare."

He watched and saw Snarf wake Lion-o up.

"The boy still has nightmares of his home planets destruction," Mumm-ra said with mock sympathy. "Let's listen, Ma-Mutt, and see if we can't use this fact to our advantage."

"How many times must I watch my fellow Thunderians parish while I sped to safety?" Lion-o asked himself.

Then he looked surprised.

"Jaga!" he said, seemingly to no one. Mumm-ra knew better; he knew the spirit of Jaga the Wise, Lion-o's old mentor, spoke to him and still guided him from the Astral World. "What are you saying? I saw the flames consume them!"

Mumm-ra only heard Lion-o's side of the conversation he had with Jaga, but he found it quite interesting. Then he listened as Cheetara went into one of her trances and explained to the others what had happened to the Thunderians they thought had been killed because the Thundercats had been forced to either leave or die with them.

"So," Mumm-ra said to himself," there are other Thunderians on Third Earth, and Mumm-ra will find them before the Thundercats do and destroy them."

This would be Ma-Mutt's first real test. Mumm-ra somehow doubted the dog would fail. This was going to be the start of a long and beneficial association.


End file.
